CHAPTER 49
Then Jacob
called for
his sons
and said,
“Gather around
so that I can tell
you
what
will happen
to you
in the days
to come:
Reuben,
you
are my firstborn,
my might,
and the beginning
of my strength,
excelling
in honor,
excelling
in power.
Uncontrolled
as the waters,
you will no
longer excel,
because
you went up
to your father’s
bed,
onto
my couch
and
defiled it.
May I
never
enter
their council;
may I
never
join
their assembly.
For
they kill
men
in their anger,
and hamstring
oxen
on a whim.
Cursed be
their anger,
for
it is strong,
and their wrath,
for
it is cruel!
I will disperse
them in Jacob
and scatter
them in Israel.
Judah,
your brothers
shall praise you.
Your hand
shall be on the necks
of your enemies;
your father’s
sons
shall bow down
to you.
Judah
is a young
lion—
my son,
you return
from the prey.
Like a lion
he crouches
and lies down;
like a lioness,
who
dares to rouse him?
The scepter
will not
depart
from Judah,
nor the staff
from between
his feet,
until
Shiloh
comes
and the allegiance
of the nations is his.
He ties
his donkey
to the vine,
his colt
to the choicest branch.
He washes
his garments
in wine,
his robes
in the blood
of grapes.
Zebulun
shall dwell
by the seashore
and become a harbor
for ships;
his border
shall extend
to Sidon.
He saw
that
his resting place
was good
and that
his land
was pleasant,
so he bent
his shoulder
to the burden
and submitted
to labor
as a servant.
He
will be
a serpent
by
the road,
a viper
in
the path,
that bites
the horse’s
heels
so that its rider
tumbles
backward.
Yet he steadied
his bow,
and his strong arms
were tempered
by the hands
of the Mighty One
of Jacob,
in the name of
the Shepherd,
the Rock
of Israel,
by the God
of your father
who helps you,
and by the Almighty
who blesses you,
with blessings
of the heavens
above,
with blessings
of the depths
below,
with blessings
of the breasts
and womb.
The blessings
of your father
have surpassed
the blessings
of the ancient mountains
and the bounty
of the everlasting
hills.
May they rest
on the head
of Joseph,
on the brow
of the prince
of his brothers.
Benjamin
is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning
he devours
the prey,
in the evening
he divides
the plunder.”
These
are the tribes
of Israel,
twelve
in all,
and this
was what
their father
said
to them.
He blessed them,
and he blessed
each one
with a suitable blessing.
Then Jacob instructed them,
“I
am about to be gathered
to
my people.
Bury
me with
my fathers
in
the cave
in the field
of Ephron
the Hittite.
The cave
is in the field
of Machpelah
near
Mamre,
in the land
of Canaan.
This
is the field
Abraham
purchased
from
Ephron
the Hittite
as a burial
site.
There
Abraham
and his wife
Sarah
are buried,
there
Isaac
and his wife
Rebekah
are buried,
and there
I buried
Leah.
When Jacob
had finished
instructing
his sons,
he pulled
his feet
into
the bed
and breathed his last,
and he was gathered
to
his people.